more by luck than judgement, we found ourselves in udine. while visiting cividale, we dropped into the tourist office (always a good idea) to chat about what to see. the very helpful lady, in addition to suggesting what to see in her city, advised us to go to udine, from where we could easily visit palmanova & aquileia. she even offered to call around and get us a hotel there. when she mentioned she?d got us a room at the 4-star astoria hotel right on one of the main squares, we figured it might be a tad expensive. quite to the contrary; it turned out to be one the best and cheapest hotels we?d stay in during our trip, and in a super location in the heart of the old city, within walking distance of all the main sights. it's not really a touristy town which nearly always explains why one gets much better value in hotels and apartments. it also included an excellent breakfast. udine is a city dominated by the castle on the hill, the duomo (cathedral), and the lovely piazza della libertà with its interesting statues and astronomical clock tower. there are several streets on a curve with many colonnades, a centrepiece of many italian owns, especially bologna & genoa. the archaeological museum, up by the castle, is a must see; well thought out and set out, it contains not just old roman artefacts and art, but a history of the city, the culture, and how the people lived. now for a little geography and history. udine is a city and comune in ne italy, in the middle of the friuli-venezia giulia region, between the adriatic sea and the alps, less than 40 km from the slovenian border. its population was just over 100,000 in 2012, and that of its urban area was 176,000. udine was first attested in medieval latin records as udene in 983 ad, and as utinum around the year 1000. the origin of the name udine is unclear. udine is the historical capital of friuli. the area has been inhabited since the neolithic age, and was later, most likely, settled by illyrians. based on an old hungarian legend, attila (around 450 ad), the leader of the huns, built a hill there, when besieging aquileia, because he needed a winter quarters billet: he instructed his soldiers to bring soil in their helmets and shields, because the landscape was too flat, without any hill. he established the town there, and built a square-shape tower. after the fall of the western roman empire, the area increased in importance after the decline of aquileia and afterwards of cividale. in 983 ad, udine was mentioned for the first time, with the donation of the utinum castle by emperor otto ii to the patriarchs of aquileia, then the main feudal lords of the region. in 1223, with the foundation of the market, the city became finally the most important in the area for economy and trade, and also became the patriarch's seat. in 1420, it was conquered by the republic of venice. in 1511, it was the seat of a short civil war, which was followed by an earthquake and a plague. udine remained under venetian control until 1797, being the second largest city in the state. after the short french domination which ensued, it was part of the austrian-puppet lombardy-venetia kingdom, and was included in the newly formed kingdom of italy in 1866. during world war i, before the defeat in the battle of caporetto, udine became the seat of the italian high command and was nicknamed "capitale della guerra" ("war capital"). after the battle, it was occupied by austrians in 1918 until after the battle of vittorio veneto in 1918. after the war it was made capital of a short-lived province (provincia del friuli) which included the current provinces of gorizia, pordenone and udine. after september 8, 1943, when italy surrendered to the allies in world war ii, the city was under direct german administration, which ceased in april 1945. the old residence of the patriarchs of aquileia, the palazzo patriarcale, was erected by giovanni fontana in 1517 in place of the older one destroyed by an earthquake in 1511. under the austrians it was used as a prison. in the 1550s, andrea palladio erected some buildings in udine. the church of santa maria della purità has 18th-century frescoes by giambattista tiepolo and his son domenico. the church dedicated to st. mary of the castle is probably the oldest in udine, judging from extant fragments dating back to the lombard era. it lost its parish status in 1263, when it was annexed to the larger parish of saint'odorico (now the cathedral). it has been renovated many times over the centuries: the façade, for example, was entirely rebuilt after the catastrophic earthquake of 1511. its three naves preserve the suggestive atmosphere of silence and contemplation, which is often found in old churches. the venetian governor, tommaso lippomano, commissioned the venetian gothic portico with steps and ramps leading down the hill in 1487. in the principal square (piazza della libertà) stands the town hall (loggia del lionello) built in 1448?1457 in the venetian-gothic style opposite a clock tower (torre dell?orologio) resembling that of the piazza san marco in venice. it was begun in 1448 on a project by nicolò lionello, a local goldsmith, and was rebuilt following a fire in 1876. the new design was by the architect andrea scala. opposite the loggia del lionello is the loggia di san giovanni, a renaissance structure designed by bernardino da morcote. other noteworthy monuments in the square are the fountain by giovanni carrara, an architect from bergamo (1542); the columns bearing the venetian lion and the statue of justice (1614), the statues of hercules and cacus and the statue of peace (1819) which was donated to udine by emperor francis i to commemorate the peace treaty of campoformido. the cathedral of udine is an imposing edifice whose construction started in 1236, on a latin cross-shaped plan with three naves and chapels along the sides. the church was consecrated in 1335 as santa maria maggiore. at the beginning of the 18th century a radical transformation project involving both the exterior and the interior was undertaken at the request and expense of the manin family. the baroque interior has monumental dimensions and contains many works of art by tiepolo, amalteo, and ludovico dorigny. on the ground floor of the bell tower (built from 1441 over the ancient baptistry) is a chapel which is completely adorned with frescoes by vitale da bologna(1349). the centre of udine is dominated by the castle, built by the venetians from 1517 over a lombard fortification ruined by the same earthquake of 1511. the current renaissance appearance dates from the intervention of giovanni da udine, who finished the works starting from 1547. the castle houses one of the most ancient parliament halls of europe.